NBC Hurricane Sandy benefit to feature Springsteen, Bon Jovi

One of the few silver linings of major disasters like the storm which affected the east coast this week is that it seems to bring everyone together in the spirit of helping out those affected.

While many remember the Hurricane Katrina telethon for Kanye West’s anti-Bush outburst, some may forget that the “Concert for Hurricane Relief” special was a tremendous success, managing to raise $50 million toward the American Red Cross’ food, shelter and relief efforts in the stricken Gulf region.

With that in mind, NBC is set to air a fund-raising effort "Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together" on Friday at 8EST. The network has enlisted some A-list players to provide entertainment for the hour-long special, including musical heavyweights Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi, and Christina Aguilera. Springsteen and Bon Jovi are both New Jersey natives and have personal ties to the areas affected most by the hurricane's damage, while Joel is a native New York City resident himself.

"Today"'s Matt Lauer will serve as host for the proceedings, joined by anchor Brian Williams and late-night host Jimmy Fallon. The special will be streamed live on NBC.com while also airing on NBC-Universal networks such as E!, CNBC, MSNBC, Style, SyFy, and G4. Other networks are said to be interested in airing the special as well, with donations raised during the telethon to go toward the American Red Cross hurricane relief efforts.